During a Thursday press conference, White made official the contendership status of Saturday’s UFC 109 co-main event fight between Marquardt and Sonnen. But the talk of the day was the barbs Sonnen directed at everyone except his opponent.

The Team Quest middleweight rained on the parades of Anderson Silva, Mark Coleman and “lazy” MMA fighters in several recent interviews. Sonnen seemed to have little regard for the clichés he felt the industry peddled.

White and Marquardt said it was unnecessary to form a war party.

“It doesn’t matter to me,” White said after the press conference. “I’m never going out and saying, ‘Hey, go say some crazy [expletive] on Yahoo! and let’s see what happens.

“Pretty much everything he said sounded like my YouTube video rant; (it was) crazy and made no sense.”

Nevertheless, the interviews were a lighting rod of attention for the fight. Saturday’s winner faces either Anderson Silva, the current champion, or Vitor Belfort, who vies for the belt at UFC 112 in April.

“Here’s the truth: There is no such thing as a game plan,” Sonnen told Yahoo! Sports. “You get these guys, most of whom are eighth-grade dropouts, and they sit around with their gold teeth and their broken English, and they act as if they’re some kind of experts in the fight game. There is no such thing [as a game plan].”

Meanwhile, Sonnen did an about-face at the podium on Thursday when he spoke of Mark Coleman, whom he called “a bum” during a recent interview.

“I’m a Mark Coleman fan all the way back from the ’92 Olympic Games when he represented our country,” he said.

Marquardt said he saw the articles and believed the whole thing was an act. It was good for business. Coleman, on the other hand, wasn’t so sure.

“Coleman was telling me he was a little upset,” Marquardt said. “I’m sure [Sonnen is] saying a lot of this stuff to bring attention.”

“It’s one thing to talk trash. … (But) I’m telling you, he looked good in his last fight,” White said. “He looked amazing. He looked well-rounded, was aggressive, and I think Yushin Okami’s one of the best fighters in the world at that weight division, and (Chael) put it to him.”

That didn’t mean White had drunk Sonnen’s Kool-Aid.

“He says there’s no such thing as a gameplan. Really?” White said. “That’s interesting. How do you figure that? He says all these guys that pretend they know what they’re doing in the corner. you don’t want any cornermen? You don’t come up with game plans? Tell Randy Couture there’s no such thing as a gameplan. Randy Couture’s won most of his fights off an incredible game plan. The real question about game plans – are you talented enough to stick with it? Are you mentally strong enough to stick to it?

“The other one was [that] most of the guys in this business are scumbags. Well, that’s coming from a guy who’s never been in the boxing business. I spent a lot of years in the boxing business, and coming here was a breath of fresh air. You deal with a lot of good people in this sport.

“A lot of the stuff he said was a little insane and made no sense.”

Even if the barbs were directed at him, Marquardt said it doesn’t make a difference whether or not Sonnen talks trash. The job is still the same.

“I shut it out,” Marquardt said. “He can talk very well. I’ve got to go out there and do my best. It’s an exciting fight, and I plan to do my best.”

For complete coverage of UFC 109 and other future cards, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of MMAjunkie.com.

(Pictured: Chael Sonnen)

Steven Marrocco is a staff reporter for MMAjunkie.com and an MMA contributor for The Vancouver Sun.

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